The iGaming affiliate market in Q1 2026 moved in different directions. The biggest players of the quarter — Raketech, Gentoo Media, Catena Media, Genius Sports, and...
iGaming Quarterly Report: Operators’ Performance in Q1 2026
Q1 2026 was a reality check for the iGaming industry, giving a much clearer picture of where the operators’ market is heading. Super Group, Codere Online, Flutter Entertainment, BetMGM, and Entain all reported growth, but the real story was how the companies actually achieved those results.
Globally, brands kept pushing deeper into regions like Latin America, while mature markets like the UK and parts of Europe remained more competitive. An interesting trend for the quarter was a much more visible focus on prediction markets and investments into AI tools. But most importantly, Q1 defined which strategies are currently working, and which ones should be left in the past.
Table of Contents
- Q1 2026: Main industry takeaways
- Super Group: Strongest quarter yet with record growth
- Codere Online: Latin America keeps delivering
- Flutter Entertainment: building the industry’s biggest network
- BetMGM: Slower growth but better control
- Entain: How volume growth hides margin pressure
- The industry’s rising focus on efficiency
Q1 2026: Main industry takeaways
| Biggest Winner | Super Group delivered record Q1 revenue, EBITDA expansion, and regional execution |
| Biggest Growth Story | With +18% revenue and +36% EBITDA growth, Super Group outperformed all operators |
| Biggest Turnaround | Entain showed signs of stabilization after some difficult years |
| Most Challenging Segment | Sportsbook margins suffered because of customer-friendly outcomes |
| Most Important Trend | Casino revenue proved to be stronger and more predictable than sports betting |
| Market Outlook | Focusing more on sustainable profitability, selective expansion, and product-led retention methods |
Super Group: Strongest quarter yet with record growth
Super Group’s Q1 performance showed something that the industry is increasingly trying to achieve: profitable growth without losing operational stability. The company reported record quarterly revenue of $612 million and adjusted EBITDA of $152 million, but the more important factor is how balanced that growth looked in regions and products. Africa continued being one of the most important growth drivers in iGaming, with Super Group’s revenue rising 33% in the region.
What separates Super Group from competitors right now is the stability of its casino business. While many operators struggled with sportsbook margin changes during sporting events, Super Group’s Q1 iGaming revenue continued expanding, and this stability helped the company convert revenue growth into even stronger EBITDA growth, which climbed 36%.
It appears that the company is focused on optimizing markets where it already has operational and brand strength, instead of aggressively entering new regions. This can be further observed in management comments around improving sports trading capabilities as the FIFA World Cup is approaching.
Super Group’s example also shows a broader industry lesson: operators with diverse geographic exposure handled sportsbook volatility way better than companies heavily focused on single markets.
Full Q1 2026 Report: Super Group
Codere Online: Latin America keeps delivering
Codere Online’s Q1 results clearly showed why Latin America remains one of the industry’s most strategically important regions.
The company’s record quarterly revenue of €64.4 million was mainly driven by Spain and Mexico, but revenue growth wasn’t the whole story; it was also about customer activity. Active player growth in both markets was strong, especially in Mexico, where average monthly players rose 20%. Mexico’s iGaming market is increasingly becoming one of the most competitive regions in the industry, and Codere’s continued growth suggests the company still benefits from local brand recognition and regional familiarity. Unlike bigger international operators trying to establish themselves in Latin America, Codere already operates with regional experience and advantages in infrastructure.
The industry-wide trend of casino dominance was once again highlighted in Codere’s case, as casino activity accounted for 63% of total revenue.
For Codere, the biggest challenge now is to maintain growth while bigger global operators are further increasing investments in Latin America.
Full Q1 2026 Report: Codere Online
Flutter Entertainment: building the industry’s biggest network
It looks like the most important theme for Flutter during Q1 was not revenue growth itself, but where that growth is now coming from.
While FanDuel remains the center of the company’s U.S. strategy, Flutter is increasingly relying on international growth and new acquisitions to reduce dependence on American sportsbook performance. International revenue growth rose by 27%, outperforming U.S. growth, which increased by only 6%. This was mostly supported by expansion into Latin American markets, specifically Brazil, and European markets, with a focus on Italy.
Leadership replacements in FanDuel also suggest that Flutter recognizes the changes in one of its most important markets. The sudden departure of FanDuel CEO Amy Howe, who was central to leading the brand during its U.S. growth period, comes at a time when the U.S. market is becoming more competitive and more complicated. A leadership change during this phase can naturally create some uncertainty, but it also shows that Flutter may be preparing for a different long-term approach in the U.S.
At the same time, Flutter is trying to position itself early in the prediction markets sector through the FanDuel Predicts platform, with high investment levels showing that the company sees this as a potentially important segment for the future.
Still, Flutter’s global size gives it advantages that very few competitors can match.
Full Q1 2026 Report: Flutter Entertainment
BetMGM: Slower growth but better control
BetMGM’s Q1 revenue showed a broader change happening in the industry: operators are becoming more selective about customer acquisition.
Compared to the above-mentioned operators, BetMGM’s Q1 revenue growth remained on the lower end at 6%, while average monthly users declined by 9%. Under normal circumstances, a drop in active users would have been concerning, but the company explained the decline as the result of stricter player management and more controlled acquisition spending.
Like many of its competitors, BetMGM benefited from casino stability during a quarter where sportsbook margins were pressured, with Q1 iGaming revenue growing by 9% and heavily outperforming sportsbook growth.
Based on the company’s 2025 restructuring efforts and currently stabilizing operations, it looks like BetMGM is trying to create a sustainable operating model inside the competitive U.S. market.
Entain: How volume growth hides margin pressure
Leaving Entain last was a strategic choice, as its iGaming Q1 results showed how sportsbook volatility can hit even strong operational quarters. While the company achieved healthy betting volume growth in markets like the UK, Ireland, and Australia, sportsbook margins heavily limited the financial impact of that volume growth. Brazil and Italy were especially affected by customer-friendly results, while retail revenue also declined because of sports outcomes favoring players.
Despite this, the growth of online NGR was faster than total group performance, with iGaming specifically increasing by 9%, explaining how the quarter became structurally more stable compared to previous years.
The contrast is that operationally, Entain is clearly attracting activity, but financially, sportsbook exposure leaves earnings vulnerable. Although the quarter wasn’t really record-breaking, the broader refocus towards online and casino-led revenue is expected to make results less unpredictable over time.
Q1 2026 operator performance comparison
| Company | Revenue | YoY growth | EBITDA |
| Super Group | $612M | +18% | $152M |
| Codere Online | €64.4M | +13% | €6M |
| Flutter Entertainment | $4.3B | +17% | $631M |
| BetMGM | $696M | +6% | $25M |
| Entain | N/A | +3% NGR | N/A |
The industry’s rising focus on efficiency
The biggest takeaway from iGaming Q1 2026 is that the industry is changing the way it measures success, and the easy-growth period is starting to fade. For years, the market simply rewarded expansion, customer acquisition spending, and competition for market share, but this quarter revealed how the priorities are changing. Operators are now focusing more heavily on quality, player value, and regional efficiency.
The quarter also suggested where the industry may be heading next. Prediction markets, AI-driven engagement, and Latin American expansion are quickly becoming the main competitive themes.
More than anything, the iGaming sector’s Q1 revealed a growing separation inside the market. Some companies already look prepared for where the industry is heading next, while others still appear dependent on conditions that are becoming less reliable with every quarter.
With Q2 on its way, AffPapa will continue covering the next wave of quarterly results. To stay fully updated on what’s happening in the iGaming sector, check out our Q1 2026 affiliate report to see how the other side of the industry performed during the same period.
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